Butler County taxpayers are underwriting political junk mail: Mailboxes are being bombarded with unwanted letters — on official county stationery and envelopes — and propaganda flyers, masquerading as “The Eckstein Report,” mailed by Commissioner Jim Eckstein, at taxpayer expense. His mailings degrade the other commissioners as well as the taxpayers who support the needed sale of Sunnyview Nursing Home. Eckstein sees nothing wrong with using Butler County resources, time and postage to spew venomous attacks on county government — all designed to push his far-fetched dreams of re-election. Eckstein’s disorganized and ineffective performance in the past two years has not only resulted in huge amounts of county tax dollars being spent on extra security in the commissioners’ offices and countless hours of county staff addressing his many ludicrous actions, but he has also engaged in unwarranted personnel issues, drawn numerous EEOC complaints and even attracted a defamation lawsuit. Damaging employee morale during the first half of his tenure, Eckstein has not had a stellar performance as an elected official because taxpayers have been stuck with an ever-mounting bill of expenses due to his ongoing, crass behavior while in office. I commend Commissioners Bill McCarrier and Dale Pinkerton for approaching seriously and professionally the Sunnyview dilemma and needed sale: All done while Eckstein wanders the backroads and alleys of Butler County with outrageous, attack billboards on his “hillbilly” pickup truck, bringing only embarrassment to taxpayers. These provocative posters, including one that claims, “McCarrier Shafts Poor Widows,” are juvenile and unprofessional as well as unbecoming any elected official. In 2011, Eckstein “pledged,” in writing, to give Sunnyview a personal cash gift of $12,500 annually, but only if elected. So far zilch has been donated, and obviously it’s another empty promise, among numerous, that he has perpetrated.